Helldivers 2 players on PC will soon regain some storage space, as Arrowhead Game Studios confirmed that the game’s slimmed-down beta build will become the new standard PC client later this month. The Helldivers 2 development team stated that the decision came after weeks of input and stress testing from players during a recent content update.
As of this writing, Helldivers 2 has two PC clients for players to pick from. The standard PC build requires a staggering 154 GB of storage space. Arrowhead stated that the high storage space requirement for the PC client was a necessary measure for the game to run on hard disk drives. However, the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S ports of Helldivers 2 do not require nearly as much space, as each console version only requires around 25 GB of storage space. Following some rounds of player feedback, Helldivers 2 introduced a PC beta build in December 2025 that slimmed down the game’s storage space requirement to match the console versions.
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After months of testing the slimmed-down PC beta client for Helldivers 2, Arrowhead stated that the beta build would soon become the norm for PC players. Arrowhead community manager Mitchell “Miitchimus” Ayre stated on the Helldivers 2 Discord server that the 23 GB public beta version of Helldivers 2 will replace the 154 GB “legacy” version once the game’s next update goes live on Tuesday, March 17. Ayre stated that this decision from Arrowhead came after several rounds of player input and testing over several weeks, and said that both new and returning Helldivers 2 players contributed to the studio’s decision. Ergo, the legacy build of Helldivers 2 will be removed from the Steam inline on March 17.
Given that the difference in loading times between the slim and legacy builds of Helldivers 2 has been minimal, Arrowhead said it was confident in its decision to go with the 23GB Steam build moving forward. Arrowhead stated that the move also came after players submitted feedback on the slimmed-down build during February 2026’s Machinery of Oppression content update, where players fought the Automatons’ home planet of Cyberstan. Although the Cyberstan campaign has since concluded, Arrowhead stated that it received enough data to conclude that the slimmed-down beta of Helldivers 2 was a “great experience” for players. Although the contents of the upcoming March 17 patch remained elusive as of this writing, Arrowhead thanked players for their continued support.
Helldivers 2 Players Don’t Have to Wait to Save Space
However, Helldivers 2 players can get ahead of the change by opting into the 23GB slimmed-down PC beta build via the Steam client. This is done by selecting Helldivers 2, going into Properties, and choosing the Game Versions and Betas tab. Once there, Helldivers 2 players can select the “prod_slim” client and begin downloading 23 GB of data. Installation times will vary depending on each user’s download speed. Although Helldivers 2 will still be playable on a hard disk drive after the March 17 update, installing the beta client on a solid-state drive is recommended. Given that the current prices of RAM and SSDs have spiked due to the ongoing DRAM shortage crisis, the fact that Helldivers 2 will require less storage space than before means that users can safely play the game on a smaller SSD and save some money.
In the meantime, Helldivers 2 players who logged into the game in February can now claim a special cape for their armory. The Eye of Liberty was issued to all qualifying players on Monday, March 2, to commemorate the second anniversary of Helldivers 2. However, the new Eye of Liberty cape is a golden recolor of the Eye of Freedom, which was granted in 2025 as part of Helldivers 2‘s first anniversary. With a new content update on the way, time will tell what surprises Arrowhead has in store for Helldivers 2 players soon.
- Released
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February 8, 2024
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
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Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
